Street-car fender.



No. 699,769. Patented May l3, I902.

A. W. SHANK.

STREET GAR FENDER.

(Application filed May 13, 1901.

WITNESSES. INVENTOR. wfl "4/ wM e 9 &

llwirn TATES ATENT ()FrrcE.

AUGUSTUS W. SHANK, OF DETROI'lhlllIOlIIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO EDWARD A HALL AND WVILLIAM C. HOLLAR, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN STREET-CAR FENDER.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 699,769, dated May 13, 1902. Application filed May 13,1901. Serial No. 59,936. (No model.)

To alZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUSTUS W. SHANK, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, in the county of WVayne, State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Street-Car Fenders; and I do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the'accompanying drawings, and to the figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specifica' tion.

This invention relates to street-car fenders; anditconsistsinthe construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out particularly in the claims.

The object of the invention is to provide simple and efficient means for attaching the fender to the front of the car-frame in such manner as to suspend said fender so as to allow a free vertical movement of the forward end thereof, the arrangement being such as to allow the forward'end of the fender to be dropped to the rails of the track when desired to prevent a person or object from passing under the fenderin case of accident. Afurther arrangement provides for raising the forward end of the fender after being de pressed and maintaining it in its normal or raised position.

The above object is attained by the mech-i anism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is an elevation of a street car to which my improved fender is applied, the upper portion of the car being broken away. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the forward end of the car-frame, showing my improved fender mounted thereon. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a front elevation of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail in perspective showing the parts of the fender and one of the operative chains'attached thereto. Fig. 6 is an enlarged detail, partly in section, showing the dog or detent adapted to engage the ratchet on the upper end of the shaft, carrying at its lower end a drum upon which the chains are wound that operate the fender.

Referring to the characters of reference, 1

designates the-frame of the car, which may be of any suitable construction and to the forward end of which the fender is pivotally hung. The fender 2 may be of any suitable construction, and comprises a horizontal forwardly-projecting portion 3 and a vertical portion 4, crossed by suitable slats or bars. Extending rearwardly from the upper portion of the fender, on each side thereof, is a side bar 5. The rear ends of said side bars are pivoted at 6 in a suitable bracket 7, adapted to be secured to the under face of the carframe, whereby .the fender becomes hinged or pivoted, so that the forward end thereof may swing in the arc of a circle concentric with the point of pivot 6.

Attached to each of the side bars 5 is a chain 8, adapted to pass over a roller 9, hung below the under face of the car-frame, and thence horizontally to a drum 10, secured to the lower end of a vertical shaft 11, journaled in the frame of the car and carrying at its upper end, which projects through said frame,

a ratchet-wheel l2. Pivoted' to a plate 13, mounted upon the upper face of the platform of the car, is a detent or dog 14., having a latorally-extending hook 15, which engages the notches of the ratchet-wheel 11 and holds said wheel from rotation. The upper end of the shaft 11 is squared for the application of a crank or-Wrench, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 6, whereby said shaft may be rotated to revolve the drum 10 and wind the chains 8 thereon to raise the fender and maintain it in its normal position, as shown in Fig. 1. The detent lat is disengaged from the ratchet as the fender is being raised and reengaged therewith when the fender has been elevated to maintain it in position. 0

It will be observed that by means of the arrangement shown and described the entire weight of the fender is forward of the point of pivot 6, so that the forward end of said fender will readily fall when the supporting- 9 5 chains 8 are released.

With the parts in their normal position the forward end of the fender may be dropped to the rails of the track by depressing the free end of the detent 14, which will carry the Ice hook of said detent from engagement with the ratchet, thereby allowing the chains to unwind from the drum l0 and permitting the forward end of the fender to fall to the track, in which position it is held by its own weight until again raised, obviating the possibility of any object passing thereunder when in its depressed position. To raise the fender after being depressed, the drum 10 is rotated by means of a crank or wrench to wind the chains 8 thereon, as before described.

Embracing the side bars of the fender are the staples 16, which serve as guides to steady the fender in its movement. When the fender is down, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, there will'be sufficient slack in the chains 8 to prevent the front of the fender being raised from the track by any tilting motion of the car.

This improved safety-fender may be readily attached .to any car for use with but comparatively little expense, and by means of the arrangement herein shown said fender may be dropped so quickly in case of an emergency as to prevent a person or object from passing under the fender to be encountered by the wheels of the car. In its normal use the fender is'so flexibly hung that it will readily give and yield, so as to ride over any obstruction on the track Without damage to the fender.

Upon the plate 13 is a shoulder 17, adapted to partially embrace the engaging end of the detent 14, so as to prevent the force exerted by the weight of the fender upon the ratchetwheel crowding said detent from engagement with said wheel and allowing the fender to accidentally drop.

Under the free end of the detent 14 is a coiled spring 18, adapted to raise said end of the detent after being depressed and more surely retain the engaging end thereof in contact with the ratchet-wheel.

Having thus fully set forth my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is'

. 1. In a car-fender, the combination with the car-frame, of a fender-frame hinged at its rear end to the frame of the car and adapted at its forward end to swing downward by gravity into contact with the rails of the track in advance of the car-frame, pulleys journaled on the car-frame on either side thereof, a drum journaled centrally to the car-frame, chains attached directly to the opposite sides of the fender-frame passing upwardly over said pulleys and horizontally to and around said drum whereby the fender-frame becomes suspend drum to draw upon said chains and raise the fender, a ratchet-Wheel upon the shaft of said drum having peripheral teeth, a plate upon the platform adjacent thereto, a curved detent pivoted at the center to said plate and adapted to engage the teeth upon the periphery of the ratchet, the engaging end of said detent being adapted to move vertically, a curved shoulder on said plate coinciding with and embracing the curved end of said detent when said detent is in engagement with the ratchet, a tread upon the free end of the detent to enable it to be raised at its curved end and disengaged from said ratchet-wheel torelease the drum and allow the chains to run slack when the fender is down and avoid imparting to the fender the tilting movement of the car-frame.

2. In a street-car fender, the combination with the frame of the car, of the fender pivoted thereto so as to allow the forward end thereof to swing vertically, the upper side bars of the fender-frame lying close to the bottom of the car above the plane of the horizontal forward portion which is connected to the upper side bars by a vertical section and stands parallel with the track,chains attached directly to the opposite upper side bars of the fender-frame forward of said point of pivot and running freely to loosely suspend the forward end of the fender above the track and allow of a tilting and swaying movement thereof, said chains passing vertically over suitable rollers and horizontally to a rotary drum, means for rotating said drum to wind the chains thereon and raise the fender, means for locking the drum against rotation to maintain the fender in its raised position and means for unlocking said drum to permit the chains to unwind freely therefrom and the forward end of the fender to drop to the track by gravity.

In testimony whereof I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

. AUGUSTUS W. SHANK.

v Witnesses:

E. S. WHEELER, C.-E. JosLIN. 

